


One Shoe Can Change Your Life

by KaytiKazoo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27500335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaytiKazoo/pseuds/KaytiKazoo
Summary: Fitz tells the story of how he got his soulmark, and then he meets his soulmate.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	One Shoe Can Change Your Life

Fitz found his soulmate when he was sixteen.  It wasn’t until much later, after joining SHIELD, after joining Coulson's team, after  being dropped into the ocean by a man he’d thought was his friend, that he met  his soulmate face to face for the first time. It was even later that Fitz realized who  the hand on his hipbone belonged to.

It was in the lounge, Fitz was stretching to reach the bag of chips on the top shelf, and his shirt had ridden up. 

“Fitz, what’s going on with that hip?” Daisy asked. He looked down and  pulled his shirt over the mark with a blush.

“It’s a  soulmark , Daisy. Everyone has one.”

“ Haven’t gotten mine yet, actually,” she replied easily. “Who  does that belong to? Simmons?”

“No,” Jemma and Fitz said at the same time. 

“Fitz had that before we met,” Jemma said. 

“So, who’s the lucky  person?”

“I don’t know,”  Fitz said. Bobbi , who had been getting herself and Hunter beers from the fridge , stopped and reached  over Fitz's  head and grabbed the chips. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she said with a smile , heading back towards  the couch where Mack and Hunter were setting up movie night. It was so rare they were all in one place, not dying, not working. “ So, how do you not know?”

“Yeah, they  _ touched _ you ,” Daisy said.

“He did, yeah,” Fitz replied. “But I never saw his face. He was gone before either of us noticed.”

“I didn’t know you were into men,”  Daisy said, leaning into the counter, head resting in her hand.

“Almost exclusively,” he said. 

“ Chill,” Daisy said, “tell me about your soulmate, then. How’d you meet, or, I guess not  _ meet _ but  you know.”

“ I was  at a club in Glasgow,” he said with a shrug. 

“No, I want the  full story, Fitz. Please. Let me live vicariously through you.”

“Okay,” Fitz said, taking the bag of chips into the lounge and sank into a chair. Daisy bounced after him and sat at his side. “ For you, and you alone.”

She grinned at him. Somehow Daisy had snuck into his heart and become his best friend, especially after  his coma. She’d been at his side through his recovery even when he didn’t want anyone there. 

“So,” he said, “I was sixteen. ”

It had been a long week before his dissertation was due, and some guys from the hall wanted him to go out with them. He was going to be going to the Academy in a few weeks, and they offered him one last chance to be a kid. He wanted to dance with boys, and take shots with his friends, and stumble home in the small hours of the morning.

“C’mon, Leo,” Matt had called as they headed out of the hall they all lived in. “Last chance, mate, if you want to back out.”

“I’m good. Let’s go.”

“Nice! Let’s go!” Matt  had  echoed. The group had let out a cheer as they loaded into someone’s car. They went to a nightclub downtown where Paul knew the bouncer and they got to skip the line. 

“Drinks first?”  someone asked, and someone else asked about dancing first. Fitz followed the group to the bar where they took shots, and found partners to pair off with. Matt got pulled onto the dance floor by a blonde with long legs who said her name was Toni. Paul disappeared with a girl named Rachel and wasn’t seen for the rest of the night. 

Fitz, though, stood at the bar  with his beer half-finished  until a tall man with sandy blonde hair and incredibly long eyelashes stepped up against him with a smile.

“Hello gorgeous,” he said , and Fitz smiled back as smoothly as he could. He wasn’t any good at this . “Are you here alone?”

“Not alone,” Fitz said, “but my friends are a little distracted.”

“What a pity. You certainly deserve attention, don’t you?”

“ Oh,” Fitz laughed, “I guess.”

The man looked him over appraisingly , licking his lower lip like he was going to devour Fitz . 

“Do you want to dance, then?”

Fitz nodded before he could second guess himself , and let himself be led out onto the dance floor. The dance floor was hot, the lights bright, the music so loud Fitz wasn’t sure his own heart was still beating. He hadn’t even gotten the man’s name, but he stood up against Fitz and led him like they’d been intimate for years. It was odd, the man’s mouth on his skin, hands pressing up under clothes. Where he touched felt scalded, and Fitz wasn’t sure if that was normal. He’d never done this before. Matt and Paul, the rest of the group knew what they were doing, but Fitz had been this weird genius child all his life, and that didn’t lend itself to many partner-provided orgasms. Most people didn’t want to kiss his neck and nibble on his ear because he understood advanced quantum mechanics. 

But , Fitz reminded himself, that’s not what this was. This man with his hands all over Fitz didn’t know him. This wasn’t about Fitz being smart, but  instead about  him being  _ attractive _ . That was a new feeling.

They danced to the beat of the songs, or song, Fitz wasn’t sure if club music had songs or just one long continuous melody. They moved in time together, and Fitz didn’t hate it. It was fun, although not as pleasurable to him as it seemed for his partner who was  full-on  panting in his ear. He could feel his partner's interest hard against his hip, but  he couldn’t say he reciprocated the feeling.

“Drink?” Fitz asked in the tiniest lull in the music, sweaty and a little weary on his feet. 

“Yes!” 

Fitz led them off the dance floor towards the bar which was extremely packed.

“I’ll get us something ; you stay here, gorgeous.”

Fitz nodded and let the man head off into the throng of dancing club kids at the bar . He peeked around the club and found Matt nearby, hand tucked around the blonde’s hip while they dance d close together. 

A hand curled around his own hip from behind, and it sent an unexpected zip of pleasure he couldn’t describe through him. He felt the warmth of a body behind his next, lining up along his back perfectly, and then the breath out against his ear.

“Don’t panic,” they said, a rich English accent surprising Fitz.  Most of the club-goers were Scottish, local to the area, this  club not  known as a place for tourists. “Just wanted to let you know your date just spiked your drink with something.”

“ _ What _ ?”

“Seen him pull that yesterday, too.”

“Oh,” Fitz breathed. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Anytime, love.”

Fitz could see the man he’d been dancing with head his way, and he must’ve tensed because the man behind him looped his arm around his waist as if protectively. Fitz dropped his hand down and gripped his forearm.

“He won’t hurt you. I promise. ”

Fitz nodded, and was relieved to see the man from the dance floor  noticed Fitz with this new stranger cuddled together at the end of the bar and then turn away with a scowl.

“Don’t let strangers buy you drinks, love,” the voice said, and then he released Fitz. When Fitz turned around to thank him, and maybe get his name , all he caught of this mysterious stranger was the back of his head and the black leather of his jacket as he disappeared into the crowd. 

It wasn’t until later when Fitz was undressing from the night, having convinced Matt to let him hang around him in case the dance partner came back, that he saw the handprint. Everyone had at least one, although it took longer for others. It was caused by your soulmate touching you for the first time, their touch left permanent on your skin. Fitz’s was pearlescent against his pale skin, shimmering in the terrible bathroom lighting. He touched it, curled his hand against it. His soulmate had slender fingers, his hand slightly larger than Fitz’s. 

The stranger who had saved him had touched him exactly there. He hadn’t even seen this man’s face, just felt him against him and seen his back as he retreated. He should have turned faster, or asked his name at least. He hadn’t expected to meet his soulmate like this, though, at a club surrounded by drunks. 

He might never see his soulmate again, especially with him heading to the Academy. The chance that he’d ever see him in the first place was infinitesimal. 

“Did you have that before?” Matt asked as he walked past to the shower stalls, nodding to Fitz’s hip. 

“No,” Fitz replied. “I didn’t.”

“Did you get his name or number at least?”

He shook his head.

“Well, Mum used to say that they’ll come into your life at the right time. Sounds like yours did tonight. Who’s to say you won’t need them again?”

Fitz nodded. 

“Thanks, Matt.”

Over the years, he’d touch the mark on his hip, shimmering in the light, and wonder what that stranger with the leather jacket was up to, if he was safe, if he was happy.  At the bottom of the ocean, he sent his soulmate a small wish that they’d find happiness after  he was gone. 

Daisy’s eyes were shimmering a little when he finished telling the story, her hand clasped in his. 

“He saved you, and then left,” Daisy said.  “It’s like, Cinderella, right? Instead of leaving behind a glass slipper, he left his handprint and turned back into a pumpkin.”

“Yeah, a little,” Fitz said. He had a tendency to rest his hand over the mark,  which started off as a comfort thing and became habit. “ I wished I’d have known the mark was there earlier so I could have tried to catch him.”

“ Where did you say you touched him back?” Bobbi asked.

“His forearm. He had his arm around my waist and I just, held on, I guess. ”

Bobbi nodded with a knowing  look.

“ It’s a little tragic that you didn’t get to meet him, not really,”  Daisy said. “That must hurt.”

“My friend Matt from that night said he’d come back when I needed him again.”

“That’s a nice thought,” Jemma said. 

They’d trailed off into  conversations about other fairy  tales and soulmates .  Fitz was glad that they knew. It wasn’t something he was ashamed of, but something private and personal. The last time he’d told someone about the night he got his  soulmark , they  teased him relentlessly about not being fast enough or not understanding that thrill through him was the mark solidifying with their  bond. 

“Hey,” Hunter said as Fitz decided to retire for the night, saying goodbye to the team who were going to pop in another Nicholas Cage movie and see who could recite it better.  “Can I walk with you?”

“Sure.”

They left together, and walked in a comfortable silence side by side. It was nice, and Fitz  didn’t mind Hunter’s company. 

“Can I ask you something?” Hunter asked quietly in the bunk hallway.

“ Sure,” Fitz replied.

“ Were you disappointed when you needed your soulmate and he didn’t show up?”

Fitz cocked his head and thought about that for a moment before answering, “no. That wouldn’t be fair. He’s not a superhero, or clairvoyant. He’s just a guy who was in the right place at the right time.”

“Right,” Hunter said, nervously running his hand along his arm. “That makes sense.”

“ And besides, clearly if we’re going by that logic, I haven’t truly needed him if he hasn’t shown up. I survived SHIELD falling, and I survived  drowning, and I survived everything since.”

He shrugged and looked at Hunter closer. 

“Why?”

“ I just, I worry that, if I have a similar story, maybe my soulmate is disappointed that I haven’t found them since.”

“Do you?”

“What?”

“Have a similar story? How you met your soulmate?”

Hunter was quiet for a long time and said softly, “yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was on leave from the army with a couple of my mates, and we decided to go to Glasgow. They wanted to go out to party, so we went a couple of nights in a row. On the second night, I saw this beautiful  boy under the lights, and  then saw this guy who  roof i ed his drink.”

Fitz forgot how to breathe.

“ So, I stepped up to warn him, and put my hand on his hip.”

Fitz really could not breathe.

“And  I held him against me, protecting him. But I thought, I’m too old for this boy. I could easily hurt him just the same as the  guy who spiked his drink. I didn’t want that, not to someone  that stunning. He put his hand on my arm, and  I couldn’t imagine leaving him, but I had to. We were due back the next afternoon, and I didn’t want just one night, so I stepped away. It wasn’t until I got  back to our hotel and took off my jacket and  shirt that I saw it.”

He pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, and revealed a handprint  wrapped around his forearm, pearlescent against his skin.

Fitz was absolutely going to pass out.

“ Are you serious?” he asked instead.

“You think I found glitter paint and painted a hand on my arm?” Hunter asked, but there wasn’t any heat to it. If anything, he was amused.

“No,” Fitz said, and he held his hand out towards Hunter’s arm. “Can I?”

“Should we maybe go into yours or mine first?”

“That’s a better idea. Yeah. Mine’s right here.”

They stepped into  Fitz's room and he closed the door behind them. It was the first time they’d been properly alone , Fitz was sure, and  it was, he was – he couldn’t breathe.

“Hey,” Hunter said, touching his shoulder with just his fingertips, as if  trying not to spook him.  “ Relax, Fitz . I don’t expect anything .”

Fitz nodded.

“Here,” Hunter said, offering his arm. Fitz cradled his wrist in one hand and carefully covered the mark on Hunter’s forearm. It fit perfectly, and they both paused, staring at his hand, Hunter’s arm, where they touched. “Wow.”

“You’ve been right here the whole time,” Fitz breathed. 

“I have,” Hunter said. “May I?”

He gestured towards Fitz’s hip.

“Please.”

Hunter stepped behind him, and pressed his chest into Fitz’s back. It had been so many years since Fitz had felt him, but it was like he’d never truly left. His hand slid down Fitz’s side and pulled his shirt up. Fitz wasn’t exactly a fumbling virgin anymore, not like he’d been when they’d met before, but there was something familiar and comforting in Hunter’s touch. He supposed that’s what soulmates were meant to be. He wrapped his hand around his hip, and just as Fitz’s had, Hunter’s fit the mark perfectly. 

“Wow,” Hunter said, and he rested his forehead against Fitz’s neck. “Can I show you what I  had wished I’d done instead of leaving?”

“Please do.”

He slid his arm around Fitz’s waist and reeled him back into him, and hooked his chin over Fitz’s shoulder. He loved the way he cradled him like this, it felt safe and like home. Then, Hunter swayed them back and forth. 

“There’s no music.”

“Mmm,” Hunter said. “I could sing to you, if you wanted.”

“Do you know how to sing?”

“I do.”

“I don’t know if I could handle you being my soulmate and you serenading me all in one night.”

“I can save it, then. Hold on.” He took his hand off Fitz, and he tried to hold off the tiny whine in his chest. “I’m not going far. Just getting my phone.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know I’d – it feels weird without you there already.” 

“I know. I feel it. It’s – I’ve read about it, but I didn’t expect – I suppose no one does.”

“You read?” Fitz teased. 

“Don’t ruin the moment,  Fitzy .”

Fitz heard Hunter tapping on his phone, and then a soft folk song started playing.

“Not exactly what was playing at the club.”

“Everything sounds like a love song when I’m with you.”

“That was adorable and extremely sweet, and I never want you to say anything like that ever again.”

“Mmm, just wait until our anniversary. I’ve got an entire year to come up with the cheesiest shit you’ve ever heard.”

“So confident you’ll make it through a year, huh?”

“I’ve waited this long to find you, Cinderella, I think I can hold out a year.”

Hunter drew him back into him, back against his chest, arm going around his waist as the soft love song played from his phone set on the dresser. They started swaying again, quiet together, steady and safe.  Fitz let the moment last, let himself memorize this, memorize how Hunter fit against him . He liked the way Hunter led, the way he  had enough room to break free if he needed to, the way Hunter’s nose nudged at his ear, the way that there was little rumble in his chest as he hummed along to the song.

“ Is that all you wanted to do?” Fitz asked as the song wound down.

“Well, no, but you were a kid and I don’t push.”

“And if we met in that club today instead? I’m not a kid anymore.”

Hunter pressed a kiss into the corner of his jaw. 

“ Not tonight, Cinderella.”

“You know, you’re the Cinderella in this story, right?  You’re the one who left first, leaving just behind a silvery handprint and  a glimpse of your jacket, without so much as giving me your name.”

“I suppose that makes you Prince Charming, then.”

“ I suppose.”

Hunter gently spun Fitz around to face him and had that infuriatingly disarming smile. 

“I  _ suppose _ ,” Hunter teased a little, and ran his hands up Fitz's arms and over his shoulders, taking his jaw in his hands. “ Can I kiss you before I turn back into a pumpkin, then?”

Fitz nodded.

Hunter’s kiss was everything the romance movies Jemma and Daisy had forced him to sit through said it would be. It was a breath of fresh air and the smell of the first snow and  raindrops through spring leaves and the sound of a creek on a summer day and  wind chimes in a breeze and Christmas dinner set out on the table and a good night’s sleep. There were a million words that Fitz could think of, a million comparisons, and none of it would be adequate. This is what it meant for someone to be your soulmate.  Nothing compared, nothing good enough, nothing exact enough. Hunter fit against  Fitz in a way no one else had and probably never would in the future. Hunter was it, his knight in shining armor and his Prince Charming and  every other cliché that the world  had ever conjured.

“I don’t want to seem forward, and we don’t have to do anything at all, but can I stay the night?”

Fitz chuckled and kissed Hunter quick and sweet, there and gone, before replying, “can you stay forever?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from The Adventures of Cinderella :)
> 
> -k


End file.
